Cliff 
Some of the best book recommendations come not from banners, adverts or ‘people who read this liked this’ algorithms, but from personal testimony. And, let’s be honest, it’s always good to see what other people are reading and enjoying! We’ve listed below some of the books that The Bookery staff have been loving recently – we hope that we can pass on our enthusiasm for these great titles.
A searing novel – the emotional temperature of both pleasure and pain are hard to bear at times but the writing is brilliant and makes for compulsive reading. Edith is about to die. She reflects on her life, to understand who she is and the story of how she became. When she was 8 her mother suffered a brain haemorrhage. Unable to cope with her disabilities, Edith’s father fled. Edith learned how to support her mother and they managed … Read more
Children’s activism has been pushing the environmental agenda on the world stage in an inspiring and powerful way. These books, from pre-school picture books to YA thrillers, will help engaged young people to keep riding the wave.
A playful and entertaining book, from the author of the 2016 award-winning novel His Bloody Project. Having previously discovered a controversial but fascinating book by the disgraced yet extraordinary psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite, the author (ie Macrae Burnet) is offered some contemporary notebooks which are apparently the diary of a young woman who was determined to expose the therapist for causing the suicide of her sister. The notebooks reveal a sadly naïve young woman with a determination to avenge her … Read more
The unicorns in Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre’s hilarious new book Kevin vs The Unicorns are a pretty snobby bunch. And as some of the most noble mythical creatures around with a history going back to the time of Ancient Greece, symbolic of purity and grace, they might well get a bit big-headed. However, unicorns aren’t always such arrogant creatures…and we thought it was only fair to highlight below some of the other unicorns in recent children’s books. And … Read more
In English for the first time, this story of love and friendship resonates far more deeply than expected. When a striking young girl enters her school, Sylvie is immediately drawn to her. Andree is clever, confident and everything that Sylvie wishes to be. Yet as they grow older, their relationship changes and what began as simple infatuation unfolds into something deeper, which will ultimately end in tragedy. This, Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘lost’ novel from 1954, hasn’t seen an English … Read more
We were delighted to welcome Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre to The Bookery last week! On September 22nd, Sarah visited nearly 600 children with her books Grumpycorn and Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn. Sarah is not only the well-known author of picture books for children, she is also the designer of our logo and the lettering on the front of our shop! She went to Broadclyst in Exeter to talk to 180 children (aged 4-7) and was joined by the three … Read more
A return to form for Jonathan Franzen in this addictive (and huge) novel. Set at the beginning of the changing winds of the 1970s, pastor and patriarch Russ Hilderbrand is struggling to hold the strands of his life together. His disgrace at work, his shaky marriage, his relationship with his unruly kids and his own self-doubt all add up to trouble as Christmas looms over the horizon. Following these events, the secrets and lies of the Hilderbrand family are … Read more
The Bookery’s Cliff found himself with reader’s block in 2020 – how did he cure it? Last year was not a normal year, I think we can all agree. Amidst chaos and change, I found myself with…time on my hands. And, in common with many book lovers, I thought that a long fallow period would allow me to perhaps attack some of those long and difficult doorstops which had been stacking up on the pile just out of my eyeline. … Read more
You’ve probably heard of her – the hideous Gorgon with snakes for hair who turns all that look at her to stone. But this brilliant new Young Adult novel from Jessie Burton (author of The Miniaturist) compels us to look again. ‘You should be careful who tells your story’, Medusa warns us. In this breath-taking and powerful reclaiming of the ancient Greek myth, Medusa finally tells her own story. 18-year-old Medusa lives on a lonely but beautiful island, with her Gorgon sisters, … Read more
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